1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to automatic pedestrian sliding doors, and more specifically to a control and drive mechanism that can be retrofitted to existing automatic pedestrian doors.
2. Description of Related Art
Automatic pedestrian sliding doors are commonplace in many shopping centers, office buildings, hospitals, airports and the like. Motors and control mechanisms mounted in the doorframes control the movement of the doors, usually in combination with motion sensors or pressure pads in the floor that detect people and objects approaching the doors.
Typically, the motor/control mechanisms are specific to the door brand and model, which reduces user flexibility in upgrading to newer technologies. To update the control mechanism, the customer is required to replace the entire door assembly or the exact replacement part that is defective or malfunctioning. The costs of this all or nothing approach include not only cost of the complete door assembly itself or the location of exact replacement parts (which might no longer be in production) but also remodeling and the necessary inconvenience and disruption to business that goes along with such major renovations.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an automatic door control mechanism that can be retrofitted to automatic doors already installed and in service, independent of door brand or model and incorporating updated control technology.